Republican Candidates Can’t Ignore the Cost of Living

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Last week, President Trump delivered his State of the Union address, talking directly to millions of Americans about his first year in office and his plans for the next three. He was right – our economy is booming. His bold policies have lowered prices and prioritized working Americans. His “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime” policies have helped families like Megan Hemhouser, whose family is now taking home thousands of dollars more a year as a result.

Republicans are right to highlight these wins. But they can’t ignore the millions of Americans still grappling to make ends meet. Two truths can exist at once: President Trump is making progress on lowering prices, and families are still feeling squeezed. Both are true.

Let’s be honest: Prices are still too high. Republicans cannot afford to duck, deflect, or downplay what families feel every single day when they walk into a grocery store, fill up their gas tank, or sit down to pay their mortgage. The cost-of-living crisis isn’t a talking point or a fake news narrative. It’s the reality for millions of American families. And voters can tell when politicians aren’t leveling with them.

Inflation is significantly lower than under Joe Biden. Energy production is quietly rebounding. There are real efforts underway to rein in spending and stabilize the economy after years of reckless policies that flooded the system with trillions in new government dollars.

But here’s what also matters: The grocery bill that hasn’t come back down as far as it needs to. Car payments are eating up too much of a paycheck. I don’t need an economist to explain it to me. I see it in my own home.

I know how important it is for Republicans to run on the issues that matter to voters – I did it myself. In 2022, I ran one of the most competitive U.S. Senate races in the country, in deep-blue Washington State. We didn’t have tens-of-millions of dollars from the NRSC. All the political experts said it couldn’t be done. But we closed the gap because we listened to voters and talked about the issues they cared about.

We talked about rising crime in Seattle. We talked about fentanyl destroying communities. And we talked about inflation crushing working families. We even highlighted the absurd cost of everyday items, including a cup of coffee, because that’s what voters were talking about in their own kitchens. We didn’t dismiss their frustration. We validated it.

Four years later, Republicans are heading into another critical election cycle with something most governing parties don’t have: opportunity. Historically, the party that controls the White House loses, on average, around two dozen House seats in midterm elections. But this environment is different. There is a real chance to defy history if Republicans stay focused on what voters actually care about.

That means Republican candidates, especially in competitive races, cannot change the subject. They cannot assume voters are more interested in political drama than they are in their monthly bills. They cannot pretend that because progress has started, the job is finished. It isn’t.

During recent elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the economy consistently ranked as voters’ top concern. But it wasn’t the top issue for Republican candidates. If Republican candidates stay focused on affordability, acknowledge both progress and pain, they can build a durable majority that reflects the priorities of working families. Now is the time to meet the moment.